Stavros Ladeas and Emma Alpern join Peter Reitzes to discuss the upcoming Day of Workshops in NYC titled The Past, Present, and Future of Stuttering, Sunday May 15, 2016. 9:30AM-5pm in Manhattan. Event details here. This event is for adults and mature teens who stutter.

Alpern and Ladeas announce that professional journalist and StutterTalk contributor Barry Yeoman will be the keynote presenter at this one day workshop and that StutterTalk host Christopher Constantino will also be presenting on a disability rights topic.

Stavros Ladeas

In promoting this workshop, The NYC Chapters of the National Stuttering Association explain that they “firmly believe that stuttering is okay.” When asked today on StutterTalk what it means to be okay with stuttering, Ms. Alpern explained, “It means I don’t have to change the way I speak; I don’t have to obsess over my speech…and that is one of the things I think we want to talk about at the conference…look at all the ways it can be okay.” Mr. Ladeas explained that many people may participate in stuttering self help to offset the “impact of society on stuttering” and to “unlearn a lot of what they have learned.” When discussing the topic of a cure, Mr. Ladeas shared, “For me, the cure is allowing myself to stutter openly, and be present, and be more of an effective communicator.”

Stavros Ladeas is first-generation American from Greek parents, who currently lives in Queens. He works in tech, making mobile apps for an agency in the city. He is co-founder and co-leader of the Manhattan Chapter of the National Stuttering Association. He’s been involved in the stuttering community for about five years now, and is enjoying the expanding stuttering community there.

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